The Story Behind “The Separation”

I have a sister, 2 years older than me, and as children, we were inseparable. I have fond memories of her holding my hand wherever we went and if she had to leave my side, she would often hug & kiss me on the cheek as we parted. Of course, we had our moments of sibling rivalry that came with being a kid, but what sticks with me is the additional layer of protection and comfort that she was in my life.

I remember how devastating my first day of vacation bible school was. The bus ride there was fantastic & it involved all the kids yelling out the windows: “HONK YER HORN!!!” to random truck drivers that went by. The excitement and screaming involved when one of them actually honked their horn, was immeasurable but, all this excitement quickly dissipated as we unloaded from the bus and started to get separated by ages. It was at that moment, that I got a sinking feeling in my gut as I realized I had to be taken away from my sister.

I tried to be a “big girl” and not cry, but I could feel the lump in my throat getting bigger & bigger. In the classroom, I was given a page from a coloring book with a picture of Jesus on it and only one green crayon. Though I knew Jesus wasn’t green, I focused all my energy into coloring Jesus inside the lines till I couldn’t stand it anymore and the tears started to flow. One of the teachers came over to me and I told her my stomach hurt. She asked if I wanted to see my sister and of course, I said yes and once again, I was reunited with her and all was good in my world again.

When my sister started kindergarten, it took a while for me to get used to watching her get on a bus and leave for a strange place without me, but it was a great day when I finally got to ride the bus with her as I started my first day of school. That joy quickly went away once we got there because once again, I found out we had to be separated. This was a vicious cycle in my life but, it was one I finally learned to cope with 🙂